Testing the Waters
by Woeset
Summary: It's been two years since the the Dark Dragon's defeat. Jake's still dating Rose and Spud is with Stacey, but how will all of that come crashing down around the gang? JakeXSpud story  in the later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!  
This is a Yaoi Jake/Spud fic, so if you don't like it, don't read it.  
Rated T for: Language**

**Hurray! My first submission for a new year. It is my New year's resolution to get this done ASAP.  
Ok, so I appologize in advance for the OC's, but it would be really hard for me to write this much involving only two characters. Enjoy!**

**-Woeset**

* * *

Two years. It had been two years. Two and a half years to be precise. Two and a half years since the Dark Dragon's most recent "defeat." Two and a half years spent dating Rose. Two and a half years of flying over eight thousand miles, back and forth from New York City to Hong Kong any chance he got.

After the Dark Dragon's disappearance, Grandpa had seen fit to cut down on Jake's training, all under the guise of "With our greatest enemy out of the way, things should settle down." In all reality, he still spent a majority of his newly found free time training. Sixteen hours of continuous flight, as Gramps would say, was a wonderful way to build up his endurance. Maybe Gramps knew. Maybe he knew, even back then, that Jake would be here right now, trying his hardest to keep his relationship with Rose as strong as ever. Jake wouldn't put it past the short and eccentric Chinese man to have this all planned to a certain degree.

And even after the continued strain of flying such a horrifying distance for over two years, Jake had yet to ask anyone for help. You would think, that by now, he would have figured to ask Fu for a magical energy drink or something, but no.

However, if you were to ask him right now, he would say that it had been two and a half years very well spent. It was well worth it, in Jake's eyes at least, for that was two and a half years he had been able to spend with the love of his life. Time spent with Rose. Any extra time Jake could spend with the girl was welcomed with open arms. He owed a great number of things to his dragon heritage, but the one he was most grateful for was the gift of flight, for it made long distance relationships a lot easier.

Jake wondered how long he had been flying. Six hours, maybe ten? Who knows? Out here, where the sun beats down upon you as you glide upon the warm air of the Pacific Ocean, time seemed to have no meaning. He turned his head and squinted against the glare of the sun and took careful note of its position. If he had to guess he would say he had been airborne for about fourteen hours. Two more hours to go and this ordeal would be over.

One of these days, he was going to get heat stroke if he wasn't careful. Already, the never-ending scenery of perfect blue was slowly taking its toll on his mind, the shimmering blue and the blazing heat slowly starting to hypnotize him.

Jake decided to take advantage of the rare abundance of free flight made possible by the updrafts of warm air. Closing his eyes, he eagerly embraced the opportunity to catch up on some well needed rest. Sleep proved elusive, however. Whoever first said that ocean sound were soothing, must have been out of their mind. His eyes remained closed regardless, as he skimmed across the columns of warm, rising air, recovering what energy he could.

Then, just as he could feel sleep upon him, the cry of a seagull pulled him out of his resting state, startling him. In the resulting panic Jake lost his concentration and plummeted from the sky, rapidly descending toward the ocean. It took him a few moments to realize that he was still trying to glide on air currents that could no longer support him. In an attempt to prevent his plunge, he chaotically flapped his wings, trying desperately to get some control. He was able to manage the situation and leveled out just in time to barely skim across the top of the water.

Heart racing, Jake glared at the sea bird that caused him so much trouble. Not that falling in the water was dangerous or anything; it was just a bitch trying to get enough air beneath his wings so he could fly again. That and it wasted a lot more energy than necessary, and he needed all the energy he had at his disposal just to be able to stand upright after the trip.

It took Jake a few seconds to realize just was he was glaring at. If he was looking at a bird, then that meant he was much closer to land than he previously thought. He stared of into the distance and now that he was actually trying to see if something was there or not, he could see the faint glimmer of land. Jake was a little more than forty-five minutes off coast, maybe an hour.

In response to this glimmer of hope, Jake doubled his efforts and within no time at all, Jake was soaring above land, sweet, glorious land. He had left New York City around two in the afternoon yesterday, so that he would be in Hong Kong at about seven o'clock. Already the sun was setting and with all of the neon lights around, it looked as if it were they who were creating the wonderful red and orange hues of the sunset.

Jake flew over to the magical section of the brightly lit metropolis. He circled around one of the buildings a few times, trying to slow down, before touching down on the ground, ending his flight. He transformed back to his human form and pushed open the door to the small dessert shop, greeted by the happy peal of a bell.

An interesting place to be sure, styled to look like an old diner with a nice atmosphere and good company. Jake had been brought here by Rose after his first flight session, having passed out from exhaustion early on in their date. Jake still didn't know how Rose had come to know about the shop, but this was apparently the only place in Hong Kong that sold anything similar to the aforementioned magical energy drink. And it only seemed natural that after coming in so many different times over the past two years, that Jake quickly became friends with the owner. Speaking of the devil.

"Jake!" shouted a saccharine voice. "How are you? Would you like one on your usual drinks?" asked the brunette, who was currently latched onto the green-tipped, black haired boy. She was no taller than Jake, having a very slender build. Her curled light brown hair bounced along with her every move and her eyes shone a brilliant shade of blue. She looked to be about twenty one, but acted no older than a girl Jake's age.

"Good to see you again, Sarah," Jake laughed, slipping out of the Xana's death grip. This was the reaction he got every time he walked into the small magical store. "And I would love one of those drinks. I swear, the flights here seem to take longer and longer every time," he said as he took a seat at his usual place at the front counter, trying to stretch out some cramped muscles.

"Aww, poor Jake, all tired out from his flight," Sarah cooed, pinching he cheeks in a teasing manner.

"Will you stop that, I'm not five, I'm seventeen already." He swatted her hands away.

"Honey, I'm two hundred forty seven years old. Compared to that, you are three," Sarah informed him, setting a light purple colored concoction in front of him. She let out a chuckle at his shocked expression. She forgot he didn't know how old she was. "So, how are you and Rose doing?" Sarah asked, changing the subject.

"We're good, I was planning on taking her out to dinner tonight," Jake told the brown haired girl as he mixed the smoothie like substance with his straw. He sipped the drink occasionally, savoring the bitter-sweet taste that reminded him of pomegranate. Already he could feel the drink's rejuvenating properties start to take effect. He let out a sigh of pleasure as he felt the magical drink going straight for all of his tensest muscle groups, getting them to relax and heal.

"You're such a wonderful boyfriend," Sarah sighed, staring off into space, a wide smile plastered on her face. "I wish I had a boyfriend who would fly across the ocean just to see me." With this comment Jake turned a nice shade of red and Sarah laughed at her embarrassed friend.

Sarah's laughter died down and the jovial atmosphere quickly turned around on its axis, now quite serious as she stared at the teen. Jake rubbed his arms a bit, uncomfortable with the new tense feeling around him.

"Jake-" she began, only to be cut off, by a voice from the kitchen.

"Sarah!"  
"What is it Will!" Sarah yelled at the blonde haired male in the other room.

"Get over here."

"Why?"

"Just get over here," Will demanded. Sarah excused herself and stormed into the back room. Jake sipped at his drink, listening to Sarah's heated argument through the swinging doors and watching it as if it were a movie.

"What is it Will?" Sarah hissed.

"You were going to tell him weren't you?" Will questioned.

"I can't even believe you would suggest such a thing, I'm appalled."

"I could hear it in your voice."

"So what if I was."

"I told you not to tell him."

"But what if I-"

"It doesn't matter what you do, nothing will change."

"I can't stand here and do nothing, this would devastate-"

"Sarah, you are right, but the thing is, no matter what you tell him, no matter what _he_ or anybody else tries to do to fix this, tonight won't change. Sooner or later it'll happen; you can't stop people like that."

"Since when have you become a fatalist?"

"I'm not, but his time is different because her mind is set, no matter what _he_ does there is nothing _he_ can do to help, the outcome will be the same and interfering will only make things worse."

"If it could help-"

"Sarah, the best you can do to help is not to interfere and delay the inevitable." [1]

Defeated, Sarah let her head drop slightly and Will placed his hand on Sarah's shoulder consoling her. In response she walked into his comforting embrace where he wrapped his arms around her. He whispered something into her ear and Sarah begrudgingly trudged back over to her seat near Jake.

"Is everything alright?" Jake asked, concerned. "Is there anything I can do to help? I am a dragon after all, it's my job." Sarah looked up at Jake through her brown hair.

"Oh you, always worrying about others. Everything is fine Jake. It's just a friend of mine who's going to get a rather unpleasant…surprise. I was going to ask you to help, but as you probably heard, there would be no point." Sarah gave him a pat on the head.

"If you're sure." Jake smirked and decided it was time for a subject change. "So, who is Will? I haven't seen him before. Is there something going on between you two?" Jake said smiling; it was now his turn to tease Sarah about her relationship.

"Shut up," Sarah said thumping him on the head, not embarrassed in the least. "He moved here a while ago and we've been seeing each other for a while now, nowhere near as long as you and Rose have been though. By the way, where are you planning on taking Rose out tonight?" Sarah inquired, genuinely interested.

"I was thinking of taking her to Celeste's. And well played, looping everything back to my relationship with Rose."

"I try my best. So Celeste's eh, fancy," Sarah cooed, leaning in closer. "Getting serious here, are we not?" she teased even more, getting Jake to turn an even brighter shade of red than before. "So when are you going to pick her up?"

"I made reservations for eight o'clock," Jake explained, sipping up the last of the drink.

Sarah glanced at the clock and took note that she had a few more minutes until Jake had to leave without worry of arriving late. "So is there anything else interesting going on that I should know about? Work, friends, man eating desserts?" she rambled out.

"Work is fine; Gramps isn't making me do anything too outrageous anymore. Spud and Trixie are a little peeved at me, apparently they think that I'm spending too much time with Rose, but they'll get over it. And I don't think I've seen any of your cooking running around causing chaos lately," Jake taunted, getting a friendly whack from Sarah.

"Well you had better get going; you only have three hours until the drink's effects wear off," She informed him, feeling like the Fairy Godmother telling Cinderella she had until midnight before the spell wore off. "I'm pretty sure you'll want to spend that time with Rose, wink-wink nudge-nudge." It was just too fun to make fun of that boy; he was just so cute when he blushed like that.

"You're right, thanks for the drink Sarah," Jake said as he dug around in his pocket, looking for his wallet.

"No, no, your money is no good here," Sarah said, stopping him. "I owe you; after all, without your help last year, I wouldn't even have my shop."

"But-"

"No buts about it, now get out of here, you're no longer welcome," Sarah joked, shooing him out the door.

"Have a good day, Sarah." Jake thanked her, rushing out the doors of the little store. "Give my best wishes to that friend of yours, I hope everything goes well."

Sarah waved after him, smiling sadly. "Good luck, Jake," she called after him, before turning on her coworker. "Damn you Will, why did you have to tell me what was going to happen; now my whole day is ruined."

"I'm sorry; I just thought it best if you of all people knew what was going to happen."

"It's alright; you had the best in mind. But if he tries to fly home afterwards and ends up drowning, I'm blaming you." There was a pause as the girl thought. "Will? What cake does Andrea like again?"

"I think it was the one that looks like chocolate cake with raspberries, why?"

"Just curious."

* * *

Jake walked almost aimlessly, too lost in his own amorous thoughts to actively realize where he was headed. His feet were leading him through what should have been unfamiliar territory, but after spending days walking through Hong Kong, Jake knew these streets almost as well as he knew his own home town. So distracted was he that it took his brain a minute to catch up with his body. Jake looked up, coming to find he was no longer moving and was now standing in front of a small apartment building.

Jake jumped up the steps of the housing complex and pressed the intercom button, hearing the metallic buzz signaling his arrival. A few seconds later he heard Rose's voice ring out from the small speaker box.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rose it's me, Jake. Are you ready to go?"

"Almost, just give me a minute. I'll be down right away."

Jake nervously shifted from foot to foot, impatiently awaiting Rose's arrival. Hearing the door open he stopped his fidgeting and turned his attention to the blonde beauty standing before him. "You look wonderful, Rose," Jake complimented her, his words not that much of an exaggeration.

Rose's long blonde hair was set loose, cascading down her shoulders. She wore a nearly sleeveless, cowl neck top that was a dark, nearly orange shade of beige, complete with a pair of light blue jeans.

"Don't say that," Rose complained, blushing heavily.

"But it's true," Jake reassured, leaning down slightly to capture her lips in a kiss. He had grown a bit in the last few years and he was glad he no longer had to stand on his toes to kiss Rose. He was kind of glad that he had decided to wear something else besides his usual red jacket and shorts; at least he didn't stand out too much when he stood next to Rose.

He wore a dark blue, short sleeved shirt, it had had an interesting design which started heavily on the sleeves, then slowly disappeared into the body. The shirt was accompanied by a pair of loose fitting dark gray pants, complete with a belt that hung on his hip, doing nothing to help keep the pants up.

"Thanks, Jake," Rose said, not looking Jake in the eyes.

"You ready to go?" Jake asked, extending his arm, oblivious to the awkward feeling that hung in the air.

"Yes, where are we going?" Rose took his arm, albeit hesitantly.

"We have reservations at Celeste's," Jake responded. He had yet to notice Rose trying to avoid eye contact. The blonde girl merely nodded her head in approval, allowing herself to be led by the dragon boy. She noticed none of the bright neon signs that passed her by, too deep in her own thoughts. She could hear Jake talking to her as they walked down the heavily crowded city street, but she wasn't really listening.

Jake attempted to tell her about what was going on in New York City and he would periodically ask her how her life was, or ask her if anything interesting had happened lately, but she couldn't register any of it. Occasionally she would murmur something out in affirmation, at least trying the keep everything seemingly normal, for the time else encompassed most of her thought process and she really didn't have any power to focus on anything else.

"We're here," Jake announced, hoping to get a real response from the unusually introverted girl. Getting nothing more than a small hum of a response, Jake frowned but led Rose into the small restaurant nevertheless.

"Hello and how may I help you two tonight?" a teenager, standing behind the cash register asked Jake as he walked in through the doors.

"A table for two, we have reservations, under Jake." They waited a moment as the guy grabbed two menus from below the counter before they followed him to the back of the building. This whole section of the restaurant seemed to be singled out specifically for couples; there were only booths and tables made to accommodate two people. Jake even noticed that the lighting was a bit dimmer in this area than the rest of the building they were just led through.

Rose had to admit, Jake sure did know to pick out a nice place for a date. Celeste's was an elegant place, it seemed to be a popular place for experienced couples, but it also had that unknown quality that made it so it wasn't too overcrowded. Interestingly enough, Celeste's was a little place situated in the human circle, but run by a member of the magical community. The lights seemed to always be kept on low, but the most fascinating feature was the ceiling. It had been made to look as if it was a starry night sky. To most people it was just a cleaver little trick they did with lighting, but Rose knew better.

"Rose, are you alright?"

The use of her name finally got Rose's attention. "I'm fine Jake."

"Are you sure? There isn't anything wrong is there?"

"Don't worry about it Jake," Rose assured him. "I'm starving, let's see what there is to eat." She held up a menu. Looking through the list, it became apparent that there was no theme to the restaurant. It offered a wide variety of foods ranging from fancy French dishes she had never heard of, to the more classical entrées such as the 16 oz steak and baked potato.

"Are you two ready to order?" The same guy from before, now apparently their waiter.

"I'll have the Gnocchi, please," Rose rattled off.

"And I'll try the Acqua Pazza," Jake ordered, handing his menu to the boy. He scribbled down their orders, going off to the kitchen. Jake looked around the restaurant, noticing all of the other patrons. They were laughing and talking to each other, something he and Rose should have been doing right now. To anybody else, it would seem as if they were a new couple out on their very first date and it was just as awkward and silent as it was supposed to be.

"Is this place too fancy for you?" Jake asked, trying to get a response from his silent date. He reached over and held Rose's hand.

"No, it's fine, I really like it. I just have plenty on my mind, it's nothing important," Rose calmed him, trying to bring some normalcy back to the night. "So, how are Spud and Stacey doing? Still dating each other I hope." She made an effort to start a conversation.

"Oh they're doing good, Spud finally convinced her to let them be seen in public together." Rose laughed at this, finally some semblance of the girl he knew.

"They are so funny; I still can't believe they got together." Rose giggled. "Did Spud ever get over his phobia of being smart?"

"Yeah, it took some convincing though. We were finally able to get him to take an advanced chemistry class." Jake shook his head in exasperation at just the memory of it.

"Ok, what about Trixie, she still obsessed over Kyle Wilkins?"

"Oh yeah, she's still stalking him," Jake laughed, happy that tonight was finally going somewhere. "She's all Kyle Wilkins this, Kyle Wilkins that, I would trade my own mama for Kyle Wilkins." Jake was able to imitate Trixie's voice perfectly.

Much to Jake's enjoyment, this is how the next few minutes went. Rose finally came out of her shell for the time being, laughing and talking about anything and everything. If only Jake knew it was a façade Rose was just putting on for his sake. When their food arrived they ate in silence.

Rose was the first to finish her meal. She had already started to nervously push around what was left with her fork. The clink of the metal fork against the glass sounded harsh compared to the silence that encompassed them.

"Rose, is something wrong?" Jake finally broke the silence.

Rose looked up from her near empty plate. "I told you I'm-"

"I know something is wrong," Jake interrupted her midsentence. "It's not like you to be this quiet, you're usually so animated, but tonight there's something wrong, why can't you tell me?"

She fidgeted in her seat, uncomfortable about the issue being called out into the open. "Do you ever find it bothersome that you spend all of your time off either flying here or flying back home, only to spend a few small moments of that with me?" Rose spat out, her little insecurity out in the open.

"No," Jake said squeezing her hand in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture. "I love you and if it means spending a little time to be with you then it's worth it," Jake explained. Yet he didn't notice Rose visibly stiffen. From the hand holding to the declaration of love, he was only making it harder for himself and harder for Rose.

"Jake, are you sure it doesn't bother you? Isn't there anything, anything at all?" Rose silently pleaded, hoping there was something to say that she wasn't alone in thinking they shouldn't be together. Any little thing, just a small crack that she could pick at to make him doubt their relationship, that's all she was asking for. She wished Jake would get the hint and that he could put it together so she wouldn't have to actually say it.

"I don't have any complaints, do you?" Rose shook her head and pulled her hand away from Jake's now searing touch.

Now, there was the possibility that Jake was, in all reality that dense. This after all was his one and only relationship that had lasted for more than a week and he hadn't faced this situation before. Maybe he was just blinded by his love for Rose not to notice the obvious.

However, it was more likely Jake had already figured it out by now. Potentially, he had taken everything in, Sarah's argument with Will, Rose's despondent attitude, the uncomfortable feeling floating around the table. It was possible that he didn't want to accept what was going to happen, hoping if he played like he didn't know what was going on, nothing would happen.

"Jake…we're over," Rose said, adverting her eyes. She couldn't look at him, if she did she would see the hurt and disbelief and she would cry.

"What?" Jake laughed, maybe he had heard her wrong. He looked to her expectantly, waiting for her to correct him, but nothing came. Slowly his face changed from questioning laughter to that of confused silence. "Why?" came the simple question. I guess she did owe him some sort of explanation. [2]

"Jake I love you, I really do…but I'm not in love with you anymore," Rose mumbled out. "We know more about each other than most people ever will. We tell each other everything; we hold no secrets from the other."

"Isn't that good?"

"I thought that would be, but I guess it's not." Rose shook her head, disappointed in herself. "There is no more mystery left; we know _too_ much about the other," She clarified, staring at the wood grain table top to distract herself. "Before, there was always that that little mystery, why you would always disappear at odd times. Now that I know about your dragon heritage, that ambiguity about you is gone."

"So it's because you know too much," Jake numbly stated.

"It's not only that, it's also that we care too much for the other." Rose finally looked up, seeing the fatigue in Jake's eyes. "Just look at you. You love me so much; you're killing yourself to be with me. The only thing holding you up right now is a magically enhanced potion that will leave you incapacitated when it wears off. I've come to dread our date nights, wondering if this will be the time you finally collapse from exhaustion. And I can't stand this anymore, this guilt, I feel so guilty that you're doing this for me. We're going to end up resenting the other if we continue."

Having heard what Rose had to say, Jake slowly got to his feet and Rose lowered her gaze, wholly expecting a disaster of cataclysmic proportions. To say she was surprised to feel his lips pressed against her cheek would be an understatement.

"If this is what you want," Jake said sadly and then he said a final goodbye. She watched his fleeting form walk away, pay for their dinner and step out the doors. Now that he was gone, the tears flowed freely down Rose's cheeks. She let her head fall to the table; her body shook slightly as she sobbed freely. She kept telling herself if was for the best, but it didn't make it any better. Eventually the waiter would return to find her emotionally exhausted in a small puddle of her own tears. The waiter would leave and call Rose a cab to which would take her home.

Elsewhere, Jake stumbled blindly down the dark street. To avoid the mental breakdown that was sure to result from this unexpected turn of events, Jake's mind had shut down and put his body on autopilot. He didn't know where his body was leading him, but he followed blindly. He didn't care where he went; right now all of his mental power was going into keeping himself together.

Eventually Jake found himself seated on a wooden bench, surrounded by lush green foliage. He sat there, in silence, feeling as if the slightest action would start a chain reaction resulting in him losing his composure.

Somewhere off in the distance came the sound of soft footsteps coming closer and closer. He soon felt a pair of arms slowly wrap their way around his shoulders, pulling him back into a warm embrace. He turned his head to see Sarah there, comforting him. She released her grip on him and moved around to stand in front of him, staring down at the young dragon.

"Oh, Jake," She took a seat next to him and pulled him close. Jake's stoic resolve didn't snap. It shattered. The despair hit him full force then, overwhelming him. He turned to Sarah and buried his head in her shoulder and cried. Sarah held onto his thin frame even tighter, running her hands comfortingly through his hair as she crooned out that it would all be alright. When she first met Jake, he was the picture of health, lithe muscles filling out his form. Only now did she notice how truly thin Jake was. It seemed flying so much with so little rest really did take its toll.

"I'm so sorry Jake, I should have told you."

"No. It wouldn't have helped any, and I probably wouldn't have believed you anyway," Jake got out in between sobs, talking into her shoulder. Slowly, the minutes trickled by and Jake's fervent crying soon made way for hiccups and shaking breaths.

"Come on, we should get going." Sarah picked Jake up and dusted him off. They walked down the tile laden park path, Sarah's arm still wrapped around Jake's shoulder. She ushered him into her car making sure he was wearing his seatbelt before she climbed into the driver's seat, starting the car.

They had not traveled more than a few blocks before Sarah, heard a light snoring sound come from Jake. She looked at the digital clock on the dashboard, the green digital letters flashed out 10:30 p.m. Seems that her drink had finally lost its effect and Jake just couldn't keep himself awake. She was thankful that it was a long drive to her apartment building; it would give Jake some time to rest.

"Jake, Jake, I need you to wake up." Sarah shook Jake by the shoulder, trying to rouse him from his deep sleep. Jake groaned and swatted at Sarah, turning over, trying to shy away from the girl attempting to wake him. Sarah sighed and tried again, this time getting him to at least stand on his own two feet.

Sarah led the groggy, half asleep youth up the flight of stairs, leaning him against the wall when she needed to find the keys to her apartment. She guided him into her living quarters, closing the door behind her. Directing him into the spare room, he immediately collapsed on the bed.

Sarah looked back at the defenseless being lying in the oversized bed, and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. Even though she couldn't have stopped it, certainly there was more she could have done, wasn't there? She hoped that in the morning the hurt wouldn't feel as bad as it did tonight.

* * *

"Good morning Jake," Sara greeted tentatively. All night she could hear Jake suffer through a fitful sleep. He didn't respond. He sat down at the table and cupped his face in his hands. Everything hurt like hell this morning and he didn't know if it was from his extended flight schedule or from last night's events. Either way he felt miserable, physically and mentally.

"Thank you for letting me stay the night Sarah," Jake thanked the Xana. "But I think I should be getting home."

"What! No, no no no. You are not flying all the way back to New York in the condition you're in, I won't allow it."

"But I need to get back soon and flying is the only way I know how," Jake protested.

"Yes, it may be the only way you know how, but it's not the only way I know how." Sara winked at Jake. Jake stared at Sarah, one eyebrow raised in confusion, he had researched every way to get to Hong and the most efficient way was to fly.

"Ok, let's go, I don't want to stay here too much longer," the dejected boy said.

"I'm hurt Jake, you don't like my house so much you would be willing to just abandon me." Sarah feigned being hurt, getting a chuckle from Jake. "We had better get going if we want to arrive on time," Sarah said checking her watch. She ran over to small fridge in the kitchen, rummaged around in it and emerged brandishing a small white paper bag.

"What's that?"

"Incentive."

"For what?"

"You'll see," Sarah sang, dashing out the door. Jake rolled his eyes at Sarah's childish behavior and followed close behind her.

* * *

They had been driving for half an hour now and Jake continued to stare out the car window. Sarah leaned over and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

"We're here."

"And what are we doing here?" Jake asked as he looked around the disserted beach. "No one is here."

"So you think, follow me." And she ran toward the ocean. Jake sighed and followed obediently. "Jake I would like to welcome you to the Intercontinental Waterway." She gestured towards the open sea.

"How come I've never heard of this before?"

"It's kind of an exclusive pleasure for water based magical creatures…and the rich," Sarah added in as an afterthought.

"The rich?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." A slight grimace crossed her face, but before he had a chance to say anything else, she was dragging him away. Underneath the pier Sarah tugged Jake into the water, leading him to an underwater passage, hidden below the water's surface.

Jake was in awe at what was hidden beneath such a simple structure. The architecture of the underground plaza was awe inspiring. The beauty of it all rivaled that of even the mermaid city.

"Hey Andrea, how are you?" Sarah walked up to what appeared to be a ticket booth.

"What is it you want from me?" the mermaid behind the counter asked.

"I'm appalled Andrea, can't I just drop in to see a good friend,"

"No, you can't. Plus you're using your 'I want a favor' voice." Andrea said bluntly.

"Well, you see I have this friend and he needs a ride." Sarah pouted slightly.

Andrea stuck her head outside her little booth and eyed Jake momentarily. "Is he a Xana?" Sarah shook her head no. "A water nymph?" Another shake of the head. "A lagoon creature, Nyx or an aquatic creature of any kind?" The look on Sarah's face answered for her. "Alright, that'll be seven hundred thousand Yuan or one hundred thousand American Dollars as I guess would be in your friend's case." She smiled at the boy's shocked expression; it was that expression that made this job worthwhile.

"There's the problem, we don't have any extra money."

"I'm sorry, but if he's not an aquatic creature of any kind he is going to have to pay, rules are rules."

"Don't you think you could overlook that little detail and pretend he qualifies for the discount, please, for me?" Sarah pleaded. Andrea gave her a look that said 'if that is the best you can do, you might as well leave.' "Well if I can't persuade you maybe -this- can," Sarah punctuated her words by bringing up the white paper bag from earlier. Sarah teasingly waved the bag in front of Andrea's face.

"Is that what I think it is?" Andrea asked, eyes trained on the bag, watching it like a dog would a bone, following its every movement.

"It sure is, and it's fresh. And it could be all yours if you just do me this little favor."

It was easy to tell that Andrea was torn between the treat being waved before her and her duty to follow the rules. Luckily, her craving for the delicacy won and she snatched the bag out of Sarah's hands.

"Damn you and you're evil cooking," Andrea muttered out as she stuffed the bag underneath the counter, trying to hide the evidence of bribery. "Fine, I'll…look the other way, we are departing in five minutes, you have that long to say your goodbyes and be in your cabin ready to leave." She handed Jake his boarding pass. She quickly drew down the shutter to avoid anymore distractions.

"Thank you for all your help Sarah," Jake said, hugging the brunette.

"It's alright, just promise me you'll visit, I get lonely," the Xana sulked. "But I don't want to see you for another three months, you need to rest, and I don't want to be able to play a song on your ribs the next time I see you either."

Jake laughed, giving her one more hug before walking off to find what would be his cabin for the trip. "Let's see here, fifty four, fifty five; here we are cabin number fifty six." Looking around, Jake thought it strange how similar the water traveling invention was to a luxury train.

Opening the sliding door, Jake could see why it cost so much for a ticket. There was a king sized bed in the corner covered with probably twenty pillows. There was a mini-fridge filled with an assorted selection of snack items. It even had an adjacent bathroom. Also, on the far side of the room was a window of sorts. One could look out and it would feel like one of those pricy excursions where people pay to watch exotic fish swim while on vacation.

Jake sat down on the bed, bouncing a couple of times. Now that he was alone, he no longer had a way to distract himself. Without someone or something acting as a distraction he could no longer keep his depressed feelings at bay and they came crashing down upon him. Unable to hold himself up, Jake fell to his side, curling up on the oversized bed. He didn't cry, no, he had done all of his crying the night before, but he still felt miserable. Slowly the sweet oblivion of sleep claimed him; sleep would be good. He wouldn't feel this horrible if he wasn't awake and then when he woke up, all of this terrible business would be far behind him.

Twenty minutes later the conductor would come by, checking each room for passengers and taking their tickets. Getting no answer after knocking, the conductor used his key card, opening the door to the room. He stuck his head in through the crack in the door and saw a small teen sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep.

He walked into the room and was about to shake the painfully thin youth awake, when he spied a passenger's ticket on the bedside table. The conductor decided to let the boy sleep, stamping his ticket before leaving.

Jake woke up hours later to be greeted by an empty cabin and a gurgling stomach. He took hold of the bed side phone and quickly dialed room service. He placed his order and no more than five minutes later there was a knock at his door. Jake thanked the maître d' and proceeded to eat his meal, quelling his voracious appetite.

The ride lasted a total of ten hours, most of which Jake spent asleep.

"Good evening, passengers, we will be docking in New York City, New York, in ten minutes, we hope you enjoyed traveling with us and I hope you will join us again sometime soon," The engineer prattled off the rehearsed speech.

Jake yawned, stretching out all his cramped muscles. A smile slowly crept across his face, being home was already making him feel so much better.

When Jake emerged from the Intercontinental Waterway he found himself not too far from home. He transformed into his dragon form and took off into the sky. He no longer said 'Dragon up!' when he changed, the catchphrase had lost its appeal a little over a year ago. Soaring through the sky he reveled in the feel of the wind rushing against his face; out of all his powers he loved flying the most.

When he could finally see his house he was elated to see Trixie and Spud, walking down the front steps, apparently they had come to see if he had returned yet, and were leaving empty handed. He flew above them and transformed back to his human form in midair, dropping down to land on his feet a few feet in front of his two closest friends in this world.

"Yo, Jakie baby, what goin' on?" Trixie flashed him a big smile, punching him playfully in the arm.

"Glad to see you're back." Spud slung his arm around Jake.

Jake smiled, it was really good to be home.

* * *

**[1] Ok, so I appologize for that horrible "conversation." I tried my hand at foreshadowing and failed misserably.**  
**[2] It's the best reason I could come up with. Get off my back. T_T *emo corner***

**Ok, so there it is. Man I'm out of practice. More to come. (hopefully it'll be better XD)  
Review! Constructive criticism welcome. (Not that I don't appreciate those who just write, "I like it", I love you guys)**

**-Woeset**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!  
This is a Yaoi Jake/Spud fic, so if you don't like it, don't read it.  
Rated T for: Language**

**Ok, first off, I am obviously not doing to well on my resolution so I apologize for that. OTL  
Secondly, to make up for that I'm going to try to get the next chapter written very soon.  
Enjoy**

**-Woeset.**

* * *

"Now we move on to the Roaring Twenties. The era of the flappers, bootleggers, and other such figures," The High School history teacher droned on, standing in front of a class who couldn't care any less. Turning around, Mrs. Pratt dimmed the lights and turned on the overhead projector.

Spud turned his eyes from the front of the room to the boy slouched down in the desk to his immediate left. Despite the long black and green hair falling to partially cover his face, Spud could tell that his eyes were closed and that the other boy was fast asleep. Spud leaned over placing his hand on the other teen's shoulder. "Jake, Jake. Wake up, dude," he whispered as he shook his friend slightly, trying wake the younger teen. Jake snorted slightly and jerked up straight, looking around. His eyes landed on Spud and he instantly relaxed.

"What time period are we onto now?" Jake asked, stretching his arms out.

"The twenties, you haven't missed much, Mrs. Pratt has just started."

"Did she notice that I was asleep?" Jake laid his head on the desk.

"I think not, but now was the best time to wake you without worrying about her catching you later."

"Thanks, Spud." Jake cast a furtive glance toward their teacher, making sure they wouldn't get caught talking anytime soon.

"Hey, what are you planning on doing today? Trixie and I were planning on going to the skate park later today, you wanna come with?"

Can't," Jake yawned slightly, attempting to rid himself of the lingering, sluggish feeling that hovered over him.

"…You're going to see Rose again aren't you?" Spud's tone was a mixture of disbelief, pity, and surprisingly a hint of disgust.

"How'd you know?"

"There are only two times when you fall asleep in class. One, you had dragon business the night before, or two; you're saving up energy to fly to Rose. But you would have told me if you had a mission last night, so it must be the second option."

"You're smarter than you look Spud, my man." Spud looked at Jake, an odd expression on his face. "What?" Jake laughed.

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" A slightly confused look implored him to clarify. "Flying I mean. Sure, History isn't the most exciting subject, but you've never slept through more than ten minutes of the class period, and today you were almost out for half the class. If you're that tired, shouldn't you think about rescheduling with Rose?" concern was thick in Spud's voice.

"It's not because I'm tired that I'm falling asleep. You know how far it is from here to Hong Kong, I need all the energy I can get. The only reason I'm sleeping more than usual is that ten minutes extra sleep just isn't cutting it anymore. I don't know why though, maybe I haven't been getting a good night's sleep the day before, you know, from all the anticipation or something," Jake explained.

"Then aren't you worried about not being able to pass?"

"I get to see Rose and if it means falling behind in a class I can just read up on later, then so be it." Now he was getting defensive about it all.

"I didn't mean anything by it, dude. I worry that's all," Spud raised his hands up, as if trying to defend himself. A disconcerted look found its way to his face as he looked over the unusually thin boy. He worried, he really did, it's what a best friend should do. He would never try to break him and Rose up, they loved each other deeply, that much was obvious.

It's just that he didn't agree with Jake's solution to their long distance relationship. He had seen the apex of Jake's "transformation" just two months after the coupled continued dating again. He knew it wasn't healthy for someone of Jake's already thin physique to lose as much weight as he had so fast, or even lose it at all.

Jake's own words worried Spud. Jake used to be able to fly to Hong Kong no problem. Then, after a while he started needing to rest more. It was fine before, he used to sleep after school, but when he started falling asleep in class as well, Spud naturally started to take notice. A couple of weeks later and he was "resting his eyes" for longer periods of time. Spud couldn't help but morbidly wonder how long it would be before Jake just gave out completely. Would it be at home or with him and Trixie, on dragon business, or perhaps while flying over the ocean where he would drown? The latter caused Spud the most anxiety, at least with the other scenarios he would be around someone else.

That's not to say all Spud did was worry, he did his part to help ease Jake's situation. He'd been inviting Jake Over many times a week, feeding him high carb, high calorie foods all under the pretense of having taken a cooking class and needing the practice. In actuality, it was all an attempt to keep the boy from deteriorating any further than he had and it was working, but still.

The real problem however, was that Jake didn't see anything as being wrong. Spud didn't know if the smaller boy had yet to notice the change or even cared. Spud didn't particularly like using cliché phrases but the saying "love is blind" seemed to fit in quite nicely. It was like the young couple, or at least Jake, were perpetually stuck in the Honeymoon phase of their relationship. And every time someone tried to insinuate that something was wrong, Jake got all irrational and defensive. Just last week, Jake and Trixie had gotten into a fight over the issue and had only barely reconciled.

"Worry? About what?" Spud knew that tone, it was the same tone Jake had used with Trixie when their fight had started.

"Nothing, just forget it."

"No, tell me. What? What are you worried about? Don't think I can't tell what that look on your face means. Are you starting to think like Trixie now? You worried that I'm spending too much time with Rose? Are you starting to feel that I'm starting to "neglect" our friendship too? Is that was you're "worried" about?" Jake started to raise his voice slightly above their whispers.

"I'm worried," Spud hissed through grit teeth. "That one day, you'll fall asleep while flying and I won't be there to wake you up before you fall into the ocean and drown."

"Boys," came a voice from in front of them. They had been so engrossed in their conversation neither had noticed that the lights had been turned on. "As interesting as your conversation may be, I'm trying to teach a lesson up here and I would appreciate it if you don't disrupt the students who are actually trying to learn," Mrs. Pratt interrupted their rapidly worsening conversation. Spud thanked every god and deity he knew for the welcomed disruption. Some of the students snickered at the reprimanded teens and Mrs. Pratt returned to her lesson plan.

The two friends sat in silence for five minutes, one looking at the whiteboard but not registering any of the writing on it ,nor hearing the teacher's lecture. The other was seated comfortably in his chair, chin cradled in his hand, eyes closed. Jake was first to speak.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you worried about that."

"It's fine. I mean, without you around, I'd go crazy listening to Trixie go on and on about Kyle Wilkins," Spud joked slightly. Jake chuckled under his breath at this.

"So, are you going to do anything with your girlfriend anytime soon?" Jake shifted the focus of attention away from himself to Spud. "Or is Stacy still trying to keep you from going out in public?"

"Shut up," Spud laughed, punching Jake in the arm. His smile slowly turned into a small grimace as he remembered a time not too long ago where Stacy did everything in her power to keep them from going to any popular date spots. That had changed recently, but not as much as Spud had hoped. The ringing of the bell pulled him out of his gloomy reverie. Spud hastily shouldered his book bag, waiting for Jake to grab his stuff. "To answer your question, no, we don't have any plans. Stacey prefers to make our date arrangements, and she's been busy lately."

"Man, she's go you whipped," Jake teased.

"Like you're any better, Rose has got you flying out to see her once a week," he shot back, laughing.

As they approached the end of the hall they said their goodbyes and went to their next classes, Jake to English and Spud to Chemistry.

….

Spud questioned everyday why he had let Trixie and Jake talk him into taking AP Chemistry. He didn't fear learning; he had long gotten over that irrational phobia. The main problem being that despite being in an advanced class, he still learned the information too quickly, which too often resulted in him being bored out of his skull.

The boredom problem was only made worse by the fact that he didn't know anyone in the class. Back when he pretended to be of average intelligence he could have at least been in a class with Jake or Trixie. Now here he sat in a class where there were maybe one or two individuals worth talking to, but both sat much too far away from him to have a normal conversation.

"Mr. Spudinsky, are you even listening?" Uh oh, caught not paying attention.

"Sorry, Sir. I was just lost in my thoughts, I apologize."

Mr. Hansen sighed in aggravation. "Don't let it happen again."

And this is how the rest of the day went on until lunch. The trio sat at the back steps of the school, eating their lunches in silence. Well one of them was eating lunch and it wasn't quite in silence either, but the lack of silence wasn't caused by them talking amongst themselves. Trixie was sitting next to spud, talking rather loudly into her cell phone, hence the lack of silence. And Jake wasn't eating lunch nor sitting on the steps. He instead lay on his back on the nearby grass, eyes closed, fast asleep despite Trixie's incessant yapping.

Spud finished his hamburger and was wadding up the paper when one of the girls from his chemistry class came up to him.

"Hey Spud," the girl said pushing her long black hair over her shoulder.

"Hi, Catherine. Do you need to borrow some of my chemistry notes or something?" Spud was already rifling through his book bag.

"Oh no. I don't need to borrow notes. I just came over to tell you that Mr. Hansen is looking for you. He wants to talk to you about earlier today." Catherine shuffled from foot to foot, looking down at her own shoes, uncharacteristically uncomfortable looking.

"Thanks. I'll go see him right away."

"Umm, Spud? Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure?" He had no idea where this was going.

"You're dating Stacey Wintergrin, right?" She finally looked up at Spud.

"Yes, why?"

"No reason," Catherine hurriedly reassured, walking off. "Oh! By the way," She stopped and turned around to address Spud again. "Mr. Hansen won't be in the Chemistry room right now, he's in the Biology room." And with that she hurried off, back into the school.

"She has a thing for you man," Jake said from his spot on the grass.

"How do you know that? You were asleep for most of that anyway." Spud was tossing things haphazardly back into his already overstuffed bag.

"Dragon senses, dude. Her heart was racing, totally nervous, she wants you." Jake smiled up at the brown haired teen above him. "You should go for it. She's cute and I bet she won't care if she's seen with you." Jake poked fun at his friend, a large, playful grin on his face. Spud shot a glare at Jake.

"I should get going," Spud said slinging his book bag over his shoulder. "Trixie, I'll see you at the skate park later today." All he got in reply from the girl was an irritated wave of the hand in his general direction. "And I'll see you when you get back, Jake." But the boy appeared to be asleep again.

….

Walking down the nearly deserted hallway, Spud hummed a nameless tune to himself, in no hurry whatsoever to talk to his chemistry teacher. Walking up to the Biology room he was surprised to find that the door was closed and the lights off. Odd, why would Catherine tell him to come to an empty room? Maybe she meant the Physics room instead. As he turned to leave he could have sworn he heard a sound come from inside of the room, but decided it was just his imagination.

And just was he was about to leave for the second time, he again heard something come from inside the room. Turning around he turned the doorknob and opened the door just enough for him to slip through.

"Mr. Hansen-" Spud stopped midsentence, transfixed by the scene before him. He stood there, frozen in the doorway of the Biology room in a shocked stupor, staring. In front of him were two other students, each in various states of undress. It was clear by the way their hands had yet to stop roaming each other's bodies that they hadn't heard him. Spud didn't know who the couple was, the boy laying down on the table, his face obscured by the body of the girl straddling his waist, and the girl who was turned away from him, her long blonde hair set loose. Spud came back down to earth and silently, Spud started to creep out of the room, trying not to be noticed.

"Hmmm, Stacey…" the boy groaned, leaning up to suckle on the girl's neck, running his fingers through her hair.

"Wait. Stacey? Could it be…no, there was no way it could be my Stacey," he thought. Yet, despite himself he stopped mid retreat, curiosity had got the better of him. Looking over his shoulder, he could clearly see the face of the female counterpart now that it was tilted to the side, allowing the boy access. And it was indeed Stacey Wintergrin.

Spud's mind went blank at that moment, the shock of finding Stacey cheating on him wiped all thoughts from his mind. He didn't know what he should do. What does one do when they have just found their girlfriend cheating them in an empty classroom?

"Stacey?" He called, his voice sounding harsher than previously intended. The two teens on the tabletop froze, heads turning towards the intruder.

"Spud? W-what are you doing here?" Stacey stuttered, wrapping her previously discarded jacket around her, suddenly self conscious.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? And who the hell is that?" Spud pointed a finger at the other male who was trying his best to pull his shirt back on. Spud's temper was rising as well as his voice. Apparently one gets angry when they find their loved one cheating on them.

"His name is Matt."

"What the hell are you doing in here with him, Stacey!"

"Don't yell at her," Matt retorted, coming to stand close to Stacey.

Spud turned to glare daggers at the other male. "Is your name Stacey? Was I talking to you? No, then shut the hell up!" Spud paused looking closer at Matt for a moment before a small, cynical smile crossed his face. "Oh right, now I know you. Matt Moncur, the foot ball team's center." Spud laughed a little. "Really Stacey, couldn't do any better than a stupid cliché cheerleader, football player romance. I shudder to think at how many remedial classes he's taking." Spud was never one to play the intelligence card, even when he knew his words to be true, but he was truly pissed right now, anything was fair game. The other boy made a move to get closer to Spud, but Stacey grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him back.

"Spud, you need to calm down. You're thinking irrationally."

"You're damn right I am! What do you expect! A light conversation over tea? I come in here to find my GIRLFRIEND, shirt on the ground, being treated like a two bit whore by an equally shirtless guy whose pants are already half way off! And you expect me to be rational!"

"Spud, you're starting to scare me," she tried desperately to calm the raving boy down. Spud was glaring harshly at the pair, breathing heavily.

"Good luck with your life, Stacey." Before he could say anything more he would regret, Spud stormed out of the room.

….

Spud did his best to ignore the incessant buzzing of his cell phone. He'd somehow made it through the rest of the school day in one piece and had gotten home without incident. He lay on his bed, glaring at the ceiling with such intensity that if it were possible it would have burst into flames by now.

After hearing his phone buzz for the umpteenth time, Spud finally flipped it open reading the text messages.

_T: Dude where are you?_

_T: Hey are you commin?_

_T: I know youre there spudinsky_

The next few were very similar in nature, Spud just skipped down to the last few.

_T: …everything all right?_

Spud quickly typed in a response.

_S: change of plans, I'm not coming._

And no sooner had he sent the message did his own phone vibrate again.

_T: Why?_

_S: Don't feel like it._

_T: I'm coming over_

Spud was just about to tell her not to bother when he heard someone banging on the front door. Spud groaned, pushing himself off of the bed. He runs down the stairs, only to find that Trixie had already let herself in.

"How did you get here so fast?"

"I was already on my way, but that's not why I'm here Spudinsky, I wanna know what's going on. First you make plans to go skating, then you bail, what's up? Is this because Jake bailed on us, because if it is, it's his loss-" She paused, looking at Spud only barely registering the bitter look on his face. "Spud, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Trixie, I just don't feel like it anymore," he tried smiling.

"Spud don't lie to me."

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

"Oh nothing, except that I can read both you and Jake like open books, and the evil aura that seems to be floating around you helps a 'bit as well," she said, moving her arms in an eccentric fashion to emphasize her point. "Now tell Mama Trixie what's wrong."

"Stacey and I broke up," he mumbled nonchalantly, planting himself down on the couch.

"What? She broke up with you, why?"

"She didn't exactly break up with me."

"You dumped her?"

"No. Remember when I left at lunch to go talk to Mr. Hansen? Well he wasn't in the Biology room, Stacey was. And she wasn't alone. Needless to say, after finding your girlfriend, half naked in an empty classroom with another guy, I think it's safe to assume that we're broken up."

"Oh, she didn't, that tramp." The couch squeaked noisily as she sat down next to him. Spud laughed at this. "Still bitter I see."

"Shouldn't I be? Wouldn't you?"

"Damn right I would! If a man ever cheated on me, I would make him regret it," Trixie shouted. "I'm actually proud of you Spud my man." She patted his shoulder. "I never expected you to be the angry type."

"Stacey didn't either."

"Ooh, did you yell? Tell me!" Spud rolled his eyes, but smiled and nodded his head. "Woo, baby, way to stand up for yourself man."

"Thanks. Do you want to play some Madden NFL?" Spud asked, holding up one of the game system controllers. "Just because I don't want to go skateboarding doesn't mean we can't hang."

"Alright." She snatched the controller out of his hand. "But don't think I'll go easy on you, you're going down."

…..

Spud's brows furrowed in annoyance when an incessant beeping noise penetrated its way into his fog filled brain. Cracking open his eyes he leaned out of bed and grabbed his alarm clock off of the night stand, pulling it closer to his unfocused and tired eyes. The black digital letters read out seven thirty.

"Great, Saturday morning and I'm awake before ten, but I guess that's what I get for being absentminded and forgetting to turn off my alarm clock," Spud mused, jumping out of bed, since there was no point in trying to go back to sleep. Opening the blinds, he welcomed the warm sunlight. Spud peeled off his shirt and started working on his sleep pants, crossing the hall to the bathroom, not having to worry about anyone seeing anything, as both his parents were away for work. Locking the door Spud removed the last of his clothing and stepped into the shower, turning on the hot water.

Refreshed and ready for the day, Spud turned off the water and dried himself off. With the towel tightly secured around his waist, Spud went back to his room to pick out his clothes for the day. Eventually he settled on wearing a normal pair of jeans and a tee-shirt with an interesting design on the front.

Clean and dressed, Spud's rumbling stomach reminded him how hungry he was. In the kitchen he rummaged around in the fridge and pulled out a few eggs and some cheese and other sundry items to make an omelet. Just as he had turned on the oven and started to melt the butter in the skillet, there came a knock from the front door. He moved the skillet away from the heat source and went to answer the door.

"Hey-" Spud began as he opened the door, but the words died in his throat as he opened the door. "…Hello Stacey." His voice polite, but cold as he stared at the blonde before him.

"Hey Spud," Stacey tried smiling at the boy, but was met with a slight scowl.

"To what do I owe the _pleasure_?"

"I thought that maybe you'd calmed down since yesterday and that maybe we could talk?"

"I don't really feel like talking," Spud sneered.

"Spud, I'm sorry. I regret cheating on you, I was stupid, I want to get back together," Stacey pleaded.

"Wow, how many teen drama movies did you watch to come up with all those clichés?"

"Spud I'm trying to fix this, don't you want to?"

"Frankly, no I don't. And I can't really see why you want to get back together either."

"Because, I love you Spud."

"After yesterday I really doubt that. You want to know what I think? I think after I left yesterday one of two things happened. Either you were too rattled to continue on with what you were doing with Matt, or you went on like nothing had happened. But either way, it ended with Matt leaving. Am I right?" Stacey's eyes momentarily flashed in anger and Spud smiled a bit, knowing he was right. "Sorry Stacey, but I'm not going to be someone's second choice. See that," his voice quickly took on a condescending and childish tone. "I can quote horrible drama lines too." And with that he closed the door on Stacey.

Spud smiled to himself, rejecting Stacey was more satisfying than he would have ever imagined. He returned to his omelet, his grin growing ever wider as he heard Stacey scream at him through the door. He hummed to himself as he reheated the skillet and cracked the eggs. Waiting for the eggs to cook, he started chopping up some onions and diced some ham. He put the ham and onions into the half cooked eggs and sprinkled some salt, pepper, and paprika in along with it. After the eggs were fully cooked he threw some shredded cheese on top, and let it sit long enough for it to melt before transferring the dish to a plate, taking it to the table. It seems that omelets taste much better after messing with someone who hurt you.

Finishing up he put his plate into the dish washer and went back up to his room. He opened the window and leaned out. He contemplated calling Trixie over, but decided against it. Today he just felt like staying home alone. Without closing the window Spud went over to his computer and logged in.

…

"Yo, Spud! Where are you?" Trixie shouted as she let herself in her best friend's home yet again. She knew Spud's parents wouldn't be home for another week or so and she had decided to take it upon herself to check in on the boy, making sure he wasn't too lonely. She went through the house, looking for any sign of Spud, but she found none. "Well, at least I know Spud's relatively safe, he might not be here, but neither is his body." Trixie didn't really think Spud would be one to do anything drastic, especially over a High School romance, but better to be safe than sorry. Trixie shrugged off her negative thoughts and walked to the kitchen and grabbed a soda from Spud's fridge, he wouldn't mind. Hearing the front door open she went back to the living room.

"Yo, Spudinsky, where have you been?" Spud, not expecting Trixie to be in his house, nearly had a heart attack. He leaned against the doorway for support, hand clutching his chest as he tried to calm himself.

"Trixie! You nearly scared me to death!" He panted, trying to catch his breath. "You really need to stop letting yourself in."

"Nah, it's too fun," she said between chuckles, patting Spud on the shoulder. "Anyway, I asked you where you were."

"I went to the Skate Park," he said, standing his board up against the wall.

"Oh, now you want to skate, and you didn't bring me?" She teased playfully. "I didn't see you yesterday either, what did you do all day?"

"Just, worked a bit on my computer, watched TV, you know stuff. I didn't want to go out. Anyway, what inspired you to break into my home and steal my food?"

"Just checking up on you and see if you wanted to be social today."

"Sure, what do you want to do?"

"Well, since you just got back, how about we watch something?"

"Sure sounds good." He looked down at his watch. "But how about we go and see if Jake is home first? He should be home by now, he might want to join us.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

The two walked down the street, talking and laughing. Trixie, however, was a little curious as to why the recently dumped teen was so happy.  
"Hey, Spud. Did something happen yesterday? You seem to be in a better mood than you should be. You know, with that whole Stacey thing going on," Trixie inquired.

"Hehehe, yeah. Well, you see, Stacey came over yesterday."

"What the bitch want?"

"She tried to get back together."

"You didn't though, did you?" Trixie gave Spud a look of pity.

"No, no. I quite literally closed the door on her face."

"Good, I don't want to see my main man with a tramp like that."

"But, that's not the best part. The only reason she came back was because the boy she was with, only wanted her as a one night stand."

"Serves her right. Karma's a bitch." She smiled at her friend as the two walked up the steps of the long residence. Spud rang the doorbell a couple times.

Hailey was the one to open the door a moment later.

"Heya, Hailey. Is Jake here?" Trixie asked, cocking her head to look inside the residence.

"Sorry, but he's not back from his date with Rose yet." Hailey bounced a bit on her feet as she spoke.

"Oh, we'll come back later then." Spud and Trixie turned to leave, the door closing behind them.

The pair were on the last step of the stairs when just the boy they were looking for fell from the sky to land in front of them, smiling happily.

"Yo, Jakie baby, what goin' on?" Trixie flashed him a big smile, punching him playfully in the arm.

"Glad to see you're back." Spud slung his arm around Jake. "And in one piece too, that's an added bonus."

"Jakie, Spud and I were thinking of watching a movie and we wanted you to join us." She slung her arm around Jake's other shoulder. "What do you say?"

"I couldn't think of anything better." Jake said.

* * *

**Well, that's chapter two for you. I hope it was up to your standards.  
Again constructive criticism is welcome, how else will I improve. XD  
Lastly, I have a question for you out there. Who would you like to see make the first move, Jake or Spud?  
I have an idea, but that's not to say I can't be swayed by a well developed argument.**

**-Woeset**


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